Bungling Irish Water today bizarrely insisted staff payouts of up to €15,000 are not bonuses.

The claim came as the politician who helped set up the utility firm branded it an “abject failure”.

Sacked Minister Fergus O’Dowd labelled the firm “arrogant and uncaring” and said it is on the verge of becoming yet another brass-plated quango with a lavish bonus culture.

As it tried to defend itself from the tirade of abuse, Irish Water insisted staff were entitled to performance-related pay but insisted these were not bonuses.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Arnett said: “There are no bonuses in Irish Water, we have a performance-related pay structure approved by Government that is also in place in other utilities.

“It means part of your salary you don’t get unless you perform.

“The reality is a performance-related pay means you are set very strict targets and if you meet them you get the full entitlement and if you don’t meet those targets, you don’t.”

The body has already admitted 50 workers will be in line for a 2.75% bonus, 165 could get a 6.5% pay-out, 65 are to get a 14% bonus and the top 29 will get 15% on top of salaries.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted there would be no bonuses for staff until after 2016 and said the chief executive John Tierney, who earns €200,000, would not be one of those to benefit.

Mr Kenny said he did not agree with his backbencher O’Dowd but admitted Irish Water had “teething problems”.

However, he took a swipe at his former junior minister and pointed out Mr O’Dowd should have raised any concerns when the legislation was being passed.

The row heaped pressure on Irish Water, which is facing stinging criticism over its handling of customer concerns.

It is under fire for forcing people to hand over Personal Public Service numbers – an issue raised by some Fine Gael TDs with their party leader.

And a national rally will take place this weekend in protest against the new charges, which came into effect on October 1.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said: “While the Government has arrogantly smothered itself in deluded self-congratulation over its so-called success with the economy, in the real world fury and anger is gripping hundreds of thousands of people across the country over water charges.

“It is absolutely clear the Government has badly miscalculated the scale of the anger and opposition to water charges and it’s going to get a very rude awakening.”

Fianna Fail Environment spokesman Barry Cowen said his party is worried about “this bonus-driven, super-quango”.

He added: “From the start Fianna Fail warned about rushing through legislation without proper scrutiny.

“I also warned about the fact no account was taken for people’s ability to pay.”